Donald Trump’s secretary of Commerce on Tuesday tried to join in the pile-on against Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve board of governors. Instead, he handed the president’s critics a tailor-made attack line.
Howard Lutnick appeared on CNBC, where he was asked about the president’s attempt to fire Lisa Cook, who is the board’s only Black member and in recent days has come under accusations of committing mortgage fraud from William Pulte, the Trump-appointed head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
She has denied the allegations, and hasn’t been charged with any crimes but on Monday evening, Trump issued a statement announcing her removal on his social media account.
Pulte’s referral to the Justice Department was cited as the basis for Cook’s firing, which she is challenging with a lawsuit filed by her high-profile lawyer Abbe Lowell. The attorney has previously represented Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and Hunter Biden, among others. Under law, Fed board members only may be fired “for cause”.
On Tuesday, Lutnick reacted to the news that Cook was challenging her termination, telling CNBC: “The crook always says, ‘I’m not going anywhere.'”
That remark followed Lutnick online, where it grew new life on X as the president’s critics, including Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, pointed out that Lutnick was directly quoting Trump himself.
“Donald Trump: ‘I’m not going anywhere,’” the post quoted the president, citing a Wall Street Journal article.
“They have zero self awareness,” noted one user in response. Numerous others wrote: “Irony is dead.”
“She has not been convicted of any crime. She has not even been CHARGED with any crime. You know who HAS been found liable of real estate fraud by a court of law? Donald Trump. Thank you for your attention to this matter,” snarked Seth Magaziner, a Democratic representative from Rhode Island.
“An unintentionally astute observation about January 6,” wrote Joe Patrice, an editor at the legal blog Above the Law.
Cook’s lawyer, Lowell, released a statement on Tuesday calling her firing illegal.
“President Trump has no authority to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook,” Lowell said in a statement to The Hill.
“His attempt to fire her, based solely on a referral letter, lacks any factual or legal basis. We will be filing a lawsuit challenging this illegal action.”
The president’s fight to terminate Cook is just the latest battle in a long-running war with the Federal Reserve. Warned off firing Jerome Powell, the Fed’s chair, Trump has resorted instead to grumbling constantly about Powell and the bank’s refusal to lower interest rates, which the president believes is an impediment to economic growth.
Powell has consistently cited lingering inflation and fears of future price hikes from the president’s tariff agenda as the Fed has held rates steady throughout 2025.
Last week, Powell seemed to indicate in remarks that a rate cut was possibly on the horizon in September.
AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould pointed to Cook’s battle with the president as a reason for market shakiness on Tuesday.
“He’s proceeded to sack Fed governor Lisa Cook which will drive speculation that the US president will push for a replacement governor more in line with his way of thinking,” wrote Mould. “Cook has refused to resign, and the whole incident has caused financial markets to wobble once again.”
